Vestinian is an extinct Italic language documented only in two surviving inscriptions of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

. It is presumed to have been anciently spoken by the tribe of the Vestini, who occupied the region within current Abruzzo from Gran Sasso to the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

in east-central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

during that time. Vestini is the Roman

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

for the people. Not enough of their presumed language survives to classify it beyond Italic. Vestinian is one of a number of scantily attested Italic languages spoken in small regions of the Apennines directly east of Rome called generally "the minor dialects." There is currently no agreement on their precise classification.

Corpus

Only two inscriptions survive.

Sample text

CIL 1².394 from near

Navelli Navelli is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is renowned for the local saffron production. Navelli and its ''frazione'' (hamlet) Civitaretenga are medieval villages located in a territory ...

in the Abruzzo, dated mid-third-century BC, is: Vestinian text: :t.vetio , duno , didet , herclo , iovio , grat , data Translation into Latin: :T. Vetius donum dedit Herculi Jovio. Grate data. Translation into Italian: :Tito Vetius ha dato un dono a Ercole Giovo. Dato con gratitudine. Translation into Spanish: :Tito Vetius le dio un don (regalo) a Hércules Jovio. Dado con gratitud. Translation into English: :Titus Vetius gave (this as) a gift to Hercules Jovius. Gratefully given.

References

Bibliography

* {{Italic languages Osco-Umbrian languages Languages attested from the 3rd century BC Languages extinct in the 1st century BC